Painting found by junk dealer turns out to be original Picasso worth over Rs 55 cr, everything you need to know

The painting, which is said to be worth 5 million pounds (Rs 55,71,18,527), remained a mystery for many years until Lo Rosso’s son Andrea began his research on art history and noticed the famous artist’s signature. Following the discovery, the family approached a team of experts, including an art detective, Maurizio Seracini.

Cinzia Altieri, a graphologist and Arcadia Foundation’s scientific committee member, confirmed the artwork to be Picasso’s. “’After all the other examinations of the painting were done, I was given the job of studying the signature. I worked on it for months, comparing it with some of his original works. There is no doubt that the signature is his. There was no evidence suggesting that it was false,” Altieri told the Guardian.

After the passing away of Lo Rosso, his son Andrea, now 60, shared that his father found the painting before he was born and was unfamiliar with an artist like Picasso.

“My father was from Capri and would collect junk to sell for next to nothing. He found the painting before I was even born and didn’t have a clue who Picasso was. He wasn’t a very cultured person. While reading about Picasso’s works in the encyclopedia I would look up at the painting and compare it to his signature. I kept telling my father it was similar, but he didn’t understand. But as I grew up, I kept wondering,” the Guardian quoted Andrea.

Notably, Picasso frequently visited Capri, where the painting was discovered.